Greenhouses have become essential in ensuring year-round access to fresh fruits and vegetables. They provide significant resilience against climate changes, land pressures, and pest challenges compared to traditional open-field farming. However, the greenhouse industry is facing a critical threat: labor shortages.
In Europe, the labor supply for greenhouses has diminished by as much as 30% since 2010, with projections indicating that this trend will persist. For many growers who rely on seasonal workers for intensive and repetitive tasks like harvesting, this staffing shortage is becoming increasingly unsustainable.
Robotics: The Future of Greenhouse Labor
Addressing this challenge head-on, German agritech start-up eternal.ag is championing the use of autonomous robotics as the scalable solution to labor woes.
The company’s latest innovation, Harvester, is a fully autonomous robot designed to operate up to 22 hours each day, performing precision harvesting tasks with exceptional consistency. Harvester is part of a comprehensive AI-driven platform that monitors crop conditions, ensures high cut quality, and continually optimizes performance.
Key to this system is its modularity, allowing for the integration of new robotic functions—ranging from pruning to crop maintenance—over time, thereby increasing the scope of automation throughout the greenhouse.
Renji John, CEO and co-founder of eternal.ag, emphasizes the real-world applications of autonomous robots. “They must adapt to the variability found among plants and in operational layouts,” he explained. The company’s simulation-first development approach allows for safe training and testing in virtual environments, significantly expediting design processes from months to mere days. Once deployed, each robot’s activity contributes valuable data back to the system for continuous learning and improvement.
Looking ahead to 2040, eternal.ag envisions a future where greenhouses are completely automated, eliminating the need for manual labor altogether.
Funding Boost for Expansion
To expedite the development of Harvester and fund additional robotic modules, eternal.ag has secured €8 million in venture capital. This funding will also facilitate the company’s expansion across Europe and broaden its platform to include a wider variety of crops.
Notable investors include Simon Capital, Oyster Bay Venture Capital, EquityPitcher Ventures, and Backbone Ventures. The company has also welcomed industry expert Wilco Schoonderbeek—former Director of Investments at horticultural investor Horticoop—as a Board Observer. He articulates the pressing need for predictable operations in an increasingly volatile labor market, stating, “When labor is uncertain, everything else becomes uncertain.”
Schoonderbeek underscores the importance of resilience: “Automation addresses the most significant bottleneck that growers face. The robot appears where the work is needed and executes the tasks. Finally, growers can rely on stable operational processes.”
A Growing Team with Ambitious Goals
Founded in 2025 by Renji John and Sherry Kunjachan, eternal.ag has rapidly expanded and now boasts a team of 26 across Europe and India. With its headquarters in Cologne and an additional engineering office in Bengaluru, the company is implementing a global development strategy.
By focusing on addressing labor uncertainties, the startup’s technology aims to alleviate dependence on manual labor while providing consistent, high-quality harvesting on a large scale.
